Northern Trust

What goes into creating a culture of great work? At Northern Trust—a renowned global financial institution—one key element has been making it fun and easy for people to show their appreciation through its recognition platform, ‘Celebrate Great.’

“The biggest opportunity was not in creating the idea of recognition, it was making it easy for people to actually act on it,” explains Mark Welch, Northern Trust’s Chief Talent Officer. “And I think that’s always going to be true for us. We hire people who are very conscientious and care about each other.People are very connected to one another. It’s making sure that we remind each other how much that means to them and how important it is to our success.”

With Celebrate Great, 15,000 partners in 20 countries connect and appreciate each other with fun, animated eCards or eButtons. Recognition awards are available for an individual or team that truly goes above and beyond. And service anniversaries are celebrated (from year 1 through retirement) with Yearbook, a personalized, interactive experience. It creates little and big moments of appreciation connecting partners and encouraging them to celebrate each other’s great work.

For KellyMannard, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, helping people be intentional about recognition has made all the difference. “It’s human nature to want to be valued. To have a platform that’s user-friendly, that’s dynamic, that’s fun, that’s instantaneous, that kind of copies all the right people so you don’t have to toot your own horn, it’s sort of transcended any kind of business or cultural boundary.”

In fact, results from an employee survey reveal the impact of these efforts:

96% feel receiving eCards and eButtons makes them feel appreciated.

87% feel Celebrate Great improves the company’s culture.

98% are likely to submit more nominations.

86% of recipients say the recognition connected their contributions to company goals and strategy.